Author: Chris Maguire

What links Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett, TikTok sensation Khaby Lame and a first-team scout at Serie A side Como 1907?

The answer is they’re all part of a growing number of content creators.

Last month Diary Of A CEO host Steven Bartlett told me in an exclusive interview how he wants to be the ‘Disney of the creator economy’.

The 33-year-old’s new company – Steven.com – has just closed a major eight-figure investment in a deal that valued the business at an impressive $425m (£320m).

In simply terms, Bartlett wants to be at the heart of creator economy – and it’s easy to see why.

Last night I attended the launch event for this year’s Web Summit in Lisbon, where the name on everyone’s lips at a packed MEO Arena was Khaby Lame.

The 25-year-old’s wordless comedy has made him the most-followed creator on TikTok with 161 million followers and another 79 million followers on Instagram.

If you’ve heard of Steven Bartlett and Khaby Lame, the odds are you haven’t heard of Felix Johnston.

The 20-year-old has been making headlines of his own after Serie A side Como hired him as a first-team coach.

What makes his story remarkable is that, until recently he was a content creator for Chelsea on the social media platform X, highlighting the academy’s brightest young academy stars.

 

The unemployment rate in the UK has risen to 5% in the three months to September – its highest level since COVID – after payrolled workers fell by 32,000 in September.

The Office for National Statistics said the figures – slightly above the projected figure of 4.9% projected by analysts ahead of this month’s Budget – were a sign that the jobs market has weakened.

Average wage growth was 4.6% , down from 4.7% in the previous three months.

Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics for the ONS, said: “Taken together, these figures point to a weakening labour market. The number of job vacancies, however, remains broadly unchanged.”

HSBC Holdings plc has appointed Wei Sun Christianson, aged 69, as an independent non-executive director.

She brings extensive banking and regulatory experience gained over a 30-year international career, having most recently served as a senior advisor at Morgan Stanley, a role she assumed following her retirement from Morgan Stanley in 2022.

Christianson’s final executive role at Morgan Stanley was Co-CEO, Asia Pacific and she also served as CEO, Morgan Stanley China from 2006 to 2022.

Prior to Morgan Stanley, she held senior regulatory roles at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, where she was involved in the drafting of the regulatory structure that would enable Chinese companies to be listed outside the country. 

Princes Group has reported a 51.5% leap in EBITDA to £111.1m for the nine months ended 30th September 2025.

Reporting its first results since listing, the Liverpool-headquartered food group however said topline performance ‘reflects the deflationary environment’. Revenue was £1.4bn, down from £1.5bn in the previous year.

Underlying free cash flow was £136.5m, which it said reflects sustained working capital discipline and supplier management.

Altitude Group plc, another provider of branded merchandise, has seen revenue grow 17.5% to $21.6 million for the six months ended 30th September 2025. Adjusted EBITDA increased 6% to $1.7m.

It said the results reflect the first contribution from the seven University Gear Shop contracts awarded last year. UGS now operates 29 programmes across 47 campus locations.

To support the group through the next phase of its growth, Martin Varley, a non-executive director, has been appointed chief strategy officer. The search for a new NED is underway.

Tap Global Group plc has reported record revenues in the first quarter of the year.

Described as a digital finance hub that brings money payments and crypto settlement services together in a single app, Tap Global said unaudited revenues for the period are expected to be £991,000, representing year-on-year growth of 40.3% compared to the prior year period.

The firm has a user base of 390,000 people and has now launched a B2B product, Bitcoin Treasury as a Service, which was piloted during the period. The BTaaS platform is an institutional-grade solution designed for publicly listed companies adopting Bitcoin as a primary treasury reserve asset, providing them with global liquidity, fiat-to-crypto conversion and reporting.

4imprint Group plc says it has delivered a ‘resilient operational and financial performance against the backdrop of volatile macroeconomic conditions’.

The personalised merchandise firm said it expects to report full-year revenue of not less than $1.32bn, which is at the high end of the current analyst forecast range, and profit before tax of not less than $142m, which is above the upper end of the current analyst forecast range. 

Group revenue for the first 10 months of 2025 was 2% below the same period in 2024. Order intake has continued to run approximately 3% below prior year with average order values in line with prior year, as the business has traded resiliently through its peak seasonal months. 

Gross profit margin has remained just below 33%, as product cost increases due to tariffs are ‘being phased in later than anticipated’.

The group had a cash balance of $124m at the end of October 2025.

Vodafone Group Plc has reported its half-year results and launched a €500m share buyback.

In H1 FY26 revenues increased by 7.3% to €19.6 billion, while adjusted EBITDAaL increased by 5.9% to €5.7bn.

However operating profit decreased by 9.2% to €2.2bn.

The latest tranche of share buybacks follows the €3bn already completed since May 2024, with a further €1bn planned.

Vodafone’s full-year FY26 guidance is now that it will deliver at the upper end of its ranges: adjusted EBITDAaL of €11.3-11.6bn and adjusted free cash flow of €2.4-2.6bn.

Author: Chris Maguire

The boss of £1.2bn turnover technology giant Travel Counsellors has said AI can be used to their advantage.

Steve Bryne told the company’s three-day conference at the ACC Liverpool, that AI can enhance storytelling.

More than 1,500 people attended the event from November 7-9  and Bryne said Travel Counsellors was well placed as a company  to ride the technology wave.

“There’s a transformation in the way that people either buy or provide services and we need to turn it to our advantage,” he told BusinessCloud.

“In our world we know what our brand stands for and that’s personalisation and care for customers so how can we use that to enhance that personalisation and care?”

Author: Chris Maguire

Web Summit founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave has identified China as leading the new technological era.

Speaking at last night’s launch event for the 2025 Web Summit in Lisbon he said: “In the coming days, you will find the world’s most advanced humanoid robots on the Web Summit floor. They won’t be European, they won’t be American. Instead, they are Chinese.”

Cosgrave said he hoped the 2025 Web Summit would produce a future Revolut, which exhibited 10 years ago when they were a three-person startup.

He said although there had been a decline in the number of Germany tech firms at this year’s Web Summit, he said the new ‘poster child’ Poland had a record representation.

“I think we have never lived in a more exciting moment,” he said.

Author: Chris Maguire

TikTok sensation Khaby Lame stole the show at the opening night of the 2025 Web Summit in Lisbon.

The star-studded launch included five-time Grand Slam singles champion Maria Sharapova and the CEO of Swedish unicorn Lovable, Anton Osika, but the 25-year-old content creator got the biggest response from the audience at a packed MEO Arena.

Lame is famous for his wordless comedy and is most-followed creator on TikTok with 161 million followers.

He also has 79 million followers on Instagram and urged content creators to put passion before profit.

“If you just think about money, you’ll never get rich,” he said. “You’ll get rich by doing what you love.”

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The intellectual property and other assets of M Squared Lasers have been acquired out of administration.

The Glasgow-based photonics and quantum technology business fell into administration at the end of August after nearly two decades in business.

Joint administrators Alistair McAlinden and Geoff Jacobs from Interpath confirmed to BusinessCloud that they have completed a sale to Novacene Photonics Limited.

 

Reading Football Club has cemented a research partnership with Score, a vision AI company working at the forefront of football performance analysis.

After becoming the first professional football club to appoint a head of AI, Reading says it is once again exploring how artificial intelligence can enhance the game. 

The one-year collaboration will focus on developing vision AI technology – advanced video intelligence models designed to enhance performance on and off the pitch. 

A new report has highlighted the pivotal need for improved access to finance to ensure the North East’s tech businesses continue to prosper.

The ‘Now and Next – The Finance Needs of the North East Tech Sector’ report by Dynamo North East C.I.C. outlines three key recommendations to improve access to finance and drive growth.

The region is home to a growing number of ambitious tech firms, yet the report points out that many businesses continue to face barriers when seeking the right type of funding required to help scale their businesses.

One of the report’s recommendations is the creation of bespoke funding mechanisms – such as debt bridges and equity co-investment schemes – that are anchored locally and responsive to the needs of scaling tech companies.

Another is the development of a ‘one-stop’ regional finance portal to improve signposting and awareness of available funding sources.

The report also emphasises the importance of investor-founder connectivity, proposing the establishment of a dedicated North East tech investor network to bring together angels, venture capital firms and institutional investors.

Major discount retailer Home Bargains has partnered with leading managed network solutions provider Evolve Business Group to bring resilient, secure payments and connectivity to more than 650 stores across the UK, with 50 stores already rolled out.

The partnership will consolidate multiple legacy networks, including those used for payments and CCTV, into a single point of contact. The new managed solution is proactively monitored by Evolve’s 24/7 technical support desk.

The new network has been designed to maximise uptime. For example, Evolve has implemented diverse connections into each store, with automatic failover to maintain connectivity if one line goes down.

To maintain rapid delivery and reduce administration, firewall rules and configuration changes will be updated automatically across all Home Bargains stores, enabling new features to be rolled out instantly.

Brainomix, a pioneer of AI-powered imaging tools in stroke and lung fibrosis, has been named a winner in the American Heart Association’s Health Tech Competition at Scientific Sessions 2025 in New Orleans.

The The University of Oxford spinout earned top recognition in the Science category for its innovative approach to improving outcomes for patients affected by cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Brainomix is developing AI-powered tools that help clinicians make confident and impactful treatment and transfer decisions that can reduce disability and save lives.

RHI Magnesia – +16.10%
Ceres Power – +13.47%
Diageo – +7.47%
Hochschild Mining – +5.91%
Ocado Group – +5.74%

Other big risers from the media and tech space are Future (+4.63%), THG (+4.36%), IP Group (+3.33%) and WPP (+2.22%).

JTC – -5.01%
Helios Towers – -2.63%
ME Group – -1.94%
BT Group – -1.90%
Sainsbury – -1.49%

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Boots has acquired the loss-making trading subsidiary of MyHealthChecked plc.

The listed entity has become a cash shell after Cardiff-based Concepta Diagnostics, which delivers at-home health testing kits alongside a digital platform, was snapped up for a reported £2.375 million.

CEO Penelope McCormick is to join Boots as managing director of Concepta, with non-executive chair Adam Reynolds becoming executive chairman of the cash shell MyHealthChecked, which will now change its name.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The Great North mayors and leaders have written to the Chancellor ahead of the Budget, calling for investment that will unlock investment and opportunity across the North.

In a joint letter, The Great North calls for major investment in infrastructure, expanded business support and measures to tackle child poverty.

On infrastructure, the group is demanding the delivery of Northern Powerhouse Rail in full, complementing other rail investment across the North of England to deliver better connectivity across all places to create ‘a spine’ that connects the whole North. 

Mayors and leaders are also calling for a new funding settlement, devolved powers and reform of business support, to back the north’s entrepreneurs and innovators. 

The Great North’s third ask is to tackle child poverty, ensuring every young person in the North has a fair shot at a brighter future by lifting the two-child benefit cap — taking 100,000 children in the North out of poverty.

Spacehive, a community fundraising platform, has launched Social Impact Donations (SID) — a service that makes it easier for businesses, including small and medium-sized companies, to support local community projects while capturing measurable social impact.

Through SID companies can fund vetted projects—from transforming green spaces and urban regeneration initiatives, to energy efficiency programmes—and receive a detailed impact report, including the impact data and marketing assets needed for reporting social impact.